GAZA, (Reuters) – Hamas stepped up rocket fire at southern Israeli towns and Israel called up reserve troops yesterday in anticipation of a possible escalation of hostilities with the Islamist group that dominates the Gaza Strip.
The armed wing of the Palestinian group said it fired dozens of rockets within about an hour, after hundreds since mid-June.
Israel said more than 40 rockets were launched as militants’ funerals were held in Gaza. Thirty struck inside Israel and the rest were shot down by rocket interceptors, the army said.
Hamas has vowed revenge for what it saw as Israel’s deadliest attacks in which six Palestinian militants died, though Israel denied any involvement. The surge in violence has raged since the kidnapping and killing of three Israeli youths last month and a Palestinian teen last week.
Air raid sirens wailed as far north as the outskirts of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Israeli police said those were false alarms, but the military said rockets had triggered alerts as far as 80 kilometres from Gaza, the farthest of the latest crisis.
Military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner said the rocket fire at Israel from Gaza by Hamas fighters meant that “now the Israeli military is talking about preparedness for an escalation”. It had called up several hundred reservists and was prepared to mobilise a total of 1,500.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet decided in consultations on Monday to step up air strikes against militants in coastal Gaza, but stopped short of deciding on a ground offensive for now, political sources said.
